Two Die in South Kona Accident 09-17-00

Two Kona men are dead following two separate but related traffic accidents that occurred on Keala O’Keawe Road (City of Refuge Road) in Honaunau, South Kona, near the 2-mile marker.

The victims were identified as Lloyd Rice, 48, of Honaunau, and Micah Otranto, 18, of Ophihale.

Responding to an 11:37 p.m. call, police officers determined that Rice was driving his 1962 Porsche two-door coupe down Keala O’Keawe Road when he struck a black bull standing in the road, causing the car to continue down the road and strike an embankment, flipping the vehicle over on its roof.

A short time later, a 1995 Ford 4×4 pickup truck also traveling down Keala 0’Keawe (Route 160) came upon the crash scene and collided with the Porsche, knocking the truck into the air and then landing on its side. The second collision also pushed the Porsche farther down the roadway, ejecting both victims onto the road.

Rice was transported to Kona Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:12 a.m. Otranto, believed to have been a rear seat passenger in Rice’s vehicle, was also taken to the Kona hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:13 a.m. A third passenger in the Porsche, Zachary Barawis, 21, was treated at the hospital, where he remained in stable condition with a fractured arm.

The driver of the Ford truck, Walter Andrade, 20, of Honaunau, was treated and released from the hospital,

The owner of the dead bull has not been determined.

Traffic Enforcement Unit officers are continuing the investigation, and autopsies have been ordered to determine the exact causes of the deaths. Alcohol is believed to be a factor in the crash.

The two deaths bring the number of fatalities to 30 this year on the Big Island, compared to 22 during the same period last year.